This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?

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1st Gear: I Learned It By Watching You!

A study from the University of Michigan found that 90% of drivers admitted to using a technology-based distraction like a cell phone in front of their kids in the past, reports David Shepardson. Wait, we thought only teenagers were doing it?

We're not actually surprised, of course, as it's one of those universal activities we all know we shouldn't do. What's interesting is that parents with kids 1-to-12 years in age are more likely to have been in a crash than other cohorts.

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However, the study included things like "getting directions from a navigation system" or "changing a CD" as a distraction. Indeed, those are distractions, but it's not the same as googling facts about Joe Pesci.

“The point is for China, this is just a home run,” said Richard Choi, director of Chevrolet marketing in China, in an interview at a Shanghai Chevrolet dealership. “Not to mix my metaphors.”

China is the world's biggest car market and any help GM can get there is a win for them. Though Ewanick was allegedly fired for not properly disclosing the cost of the deal, we're curious to hear what his response will be to the success of his program.

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3rd Gear: U.S. Is Selling More Of GM

The Treasury will continue to offload GM stick reports Reuters. Roughly 241.7 million shares remain in the hands of the government and both the current administration and the GM leadership would like to see that number drop to zero.

So far the U.S. has taken back about $30.4 billion of the $49.5 billion that was used, via TARP, to save GM's bacon. At the current rate of about $32 a share, the government will still lose billions on the deal.

Do honk to let someone know they're stuck at a light/ Do not honk because the light is red, there's a full moon, it's your sister's birthday, you just saw a bird.

Reverse: A Merger Of Non-Equals

On this day in 1998, the German automobile company Daimler-Benz—maker of the world-famous luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz—announces a $36 billion merger with the United States-based Chrysler Corporation.The purchase of Chrysler, America's third-largest car company, by the Stuttgart-based Daimler-Benz marked the biggest acquisition by a foreign buyer of any U.S. company in history. Though marketed to investors as an equal pairing, it soon emerged that Daimler would be the dominant partner, with its stockholders owning the majority of the new company's shares.